After Le Central and the opening of Eaton Center's Time Out Market, Place Ville-Marie just unveiled Le Cathcart: a gourmet hall that will entice more than one to enjoy a long lunch and spend quality time with their coworkers during happy hour. I remember many moons ago how Place Ville-Marie felt a bit outdated and bland as I used to work at a boutique on Saint-Catherine Street and used to pass through the PMV on my commute to work. Then 4 years ago, I noticed the latter undergoing massive renovations and fast forward to last night, I can affirm the wait was worth it: PVM is looking great!
With almost 1000 seating space, Le Cathcart is home to 3 full-service restaurants and 9 grab-and-go counters all promoting Montreal's diverse and rich culinary scene. Of course, the culinary aspect will be elaborated over the next few lines, but what sets Le Cathcart apart is undoubtedly the design. Indeed the renowned firm Sid Lee worked in collaboration with Menkès Shonner Dagenais LeTourneaux Architects by carrying out this massive project and created a luminous Biergarten offering a public space filled with natural light and greenery. Just look up and soak in the view whilst sipping on a glass of red wine or cold pint.
If you are a fan of Rosemont's popular AIR COMMUNE (a huge outdoor public space by Carré de Gaspé) you will be happy upon learning Îlot 84 will partake in entertaining your 5 à 7. Whether the weather calls for rain or shine, your night will be a fun one regardless of Mother Nature's mood swings.
Now onto the food bit. With 3 sit-in restaurants, your taste buds will have the choice in between Japanese, Italian or Montreal cuisine.
Indeed the first choice on the list is Akio, a Japanese cantine that will transport you to Osaka offering a great selection of sushi and meat. With chefs Antonio Park (Flyjin and Kampai) and Olivier Vigneault (Jatoba) behind the grill, you can rest assure what you will get in your plate will be foodtastic! Word to the wise, try the sake!
The second sit-in restaurant is Pizza del Fornaio which basically translates to the baker's pizza and of course, will serve amazing oven-baked pizzas. Now, if a French bistro is more up your palate, Mirabel is open both morning and evening offering copious meals created by chef Nicholas Giambattisto (who worked at Caffe Un Po’ Di Piu and the renowned-Joe Beef).
Now if you're running in between meetings or simply need a quick lunch, instead of having the classic Subway as any normal and boring food courts has, Le Cathcart prides itself in offering great and healthy alternatives to make your lunch less-so boring. From my favorite, the wonderful Hà restaurant (which has their own location in the Financial district serving a fusion of dishes from Laos and Vietnam) , Chikin (for amazing Korean fried chicken) to tasty tacos at Tulum Taqueria and an intriguing take on Lebanese-Montreal style cuisine at Omnivore, choices here are not what's missing.
So, where are we going for lunch?
Open daily
From Monday to Wednesday: 7 am to 9 pm
Thursday to Saturday: 7 am to 11 pm
Sunday: 7 am to 6 pm
All pictures were provided by Le Cathcart
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